10 Tips for Effective Discovery Calls

We've all heard it. Some of us have used it. And the more dad-joke inclined amongst us would likely retort with "usually bourbon or spicy food." It's the sales equivalent of, "do you come here often?" Given, we may not have gone so far as to say those exact words, but all of us have at times resorted to trite attempts to get the customer to share valuable information about their goals, strategies, and challenges. 

So why are discovery calls so difficult? In one regard, they're the tapas of sales engagements. Surely we've all been there, invited by friends or coworkers to the new tapas spot, a few tiny bites and over-priced drinks into our evening when we come to terms with the likelihood that our evening will likely end with the Drive Thru of Shame: the meal after the meal. We had lots of fun, but something about those miniscule plates of  quail legs or broccolini spears with Sriracha soy reduction left us feeling like we consumed food, yet somehow we didn't "eat."

Likewise, while discovery calls sometime lead to fantastic exchanges of information like you've just met your new best friend, other times they're awkwardly executed, laborious, and in the end only marginally satisfying for all parties involved. Oftentimes the challenge with the exchange is that one or both parties entered into the discovery call without a clear sense of how you will collectively receive and deliver mutual value.

Many of our challenges with discovery can be largely mitigated if we just stop viewing it, like tapas, as a meal-but-not-a-meal. What if, rather than perceiving discovery calls as a means to justify our upcoming sales call or product demo, we viewed the discovery call (like we should every customer conversation) as an opportunity to:

• Create mutual value: In my experience working with sales and presales teams, I have found that roughly 1 in 10 discovery calls begin with customers who joined the call expecting a presentation or demo, or who were caught off guard by the seller's questions. While everyone tried their best to muddle through the call, it delivered little mutual value to the buyer and seller.
  Best Practice: Provide your agenda in advance of the call, including the areas of their business you'd like to explore. In some cases, you may even consider providing a few preliminary questions in writing.
• Deliver a point of view: delivering mutual value almost always entails convincing your customer that you have the interest, expertise, and motivation to help your customer to achieve their goals or overcome their challenges. This means that alongside your discovery questions, you should be responding throughout the discovery call with a perspective on how leaders in your domain have achieved similar results or solved similar challenges to the ones the customer is experiencing.
  Best Practice: For each topic in your agenda, come prepared with a concise perspective that conveys thought leadership, assures your customer that you understand them, and positively frames your company. This should be customer-specific and concise. Avoid using your company pitch as your point of view.
• Advance to the next selling event: this should go without saying, but no customer contact should ever be terminal, with the possible exception of the "thank you" call after the customer has agreed to your purchase terms. It's far easier to get the customer to commit to a date if you've time-bound them during the meeting.  A Mutual Action Plan will help you to plan the tasks, milestones, goals and responsibilities for each member of the pursuit and customer teams. What's more, if your point of view is sufficiently focused on customer value creation, your customer will also be more likely to actively engage with your mutual action plan.
  Best Practice: Include your support teams in the mutual action plan. For example, you may want to consult with your presales team before proposing a demo date, so that everyone has ample time to meet the customer's expectations.

Why it matters:

Well-planned and executed discovery calls

- enhance the customer experience

- create meaningful connections with your buyers

- deliver deeper customer insights

10 tips for effective discovery calls

1. Do your homework.

A great discovery call requires some work on your part. Research the company and the people you are going to be talking to. Use that information to guide your questions, but never assume that you fully understand a prospect’s challenges based on that research. 

2. Have a game plan.

Know what you (and any other team members who will be attending your call) expect to achieve with the meeting. Establish in advance the planned flow of the conversation. If you have team members joining you on the discovery call, agree in advance on speaker order and roles. 

3. Focus on customer value.

Use your questioning to uncover challenges and initiatives that might be addressed with your solution. As you uncover these challenges, ask yourself why it might matter to your customer relative to their goals.

4. Make it personal.

Let the person you're interviewing know your agenda in advance. Better yet, give them the opportunity to weigh in on the agenda. During the call, avoid peppering the customer with short, closed-ended questions. Instead, maintain a dialogue to keep your discovery call conversational and relevant.

5. Encourage free expression.

Plan your questions in a manner that encourages the customer to speak freely about their goals and challenges. You'll get much deeper and more meaningful information by asking open-ended questions that get a person talking. Rather than asking "does your team have sales reps and sales engineers," instead you may ask "can you tell me about the structure of your sales organization?"

6. Focus on the "why."

Ask questions that urge your customer to think beyond the "what" (blunt description) of their problem and share more about the "why" (causes and impact). In some cases, a customer might not even realize they're experiencing a challenge or obstacle until you guide them to that conclusion.

7. Probe their answers.

Instead of accepting "we need to be more efficient" as an answer, encourage the customer to acknowledge the value. You may probe their answer to get more information such as, "if we were able to gain half an hour of efficiency in the service process, we could perform 1 more service call per day, per technician."

8. Keep it simple.

Never ask multiple part questions all at once. Most often the customer will fail to answer part of the question, and it's unlikely that you will pick up on it until after the call. Instead, give the customer a chance to answer each question before adding a second part to your question.

9. Take notes judiciously.

It's important to take notes as you go, but keep them abbreviated so your customer isn't waiting awkwardly while you finish recording their answer. Better yet, if you have multiple team members on the call, anyone who is not "on the mic" for the current question should be taking notes.

10. Remember why you're here.

Above all, remember that discovery is always for the customer! The best discovery calls convey genuine customer curiosity, and our efforts to sell or set up a demo are secondary to our primary objective to create mutual value for our customers.